US3795069A - Portable trail grooming device - Google Patents

Abstract

This Trail Groomer is designed to adapt itself to the trail condition, and automatically reduces the load on the towing vehicle whenever the groomer meets high resistance such as iced snow cover or very heavy snow fall. The unloading of the groomer is accomplished by tilting the main beam upwards to lift a fixed blade, and pulling a lifting wedge which responds to excessive draw-bar pull under a movable blade to reduce some of the load of snow.

Description

United-States Patent 1 1 Cheney v 3,795,069 4 1 Mar.5, 1974 [54] PORTABLE TRAIL GROOMING DEVICE [76] Inventor: Stanley 0. Cheney, West Springfield, NH. 03284 [22] Filed: July 5, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 269,119-

[52] US. Cl 37/48, 404/11'8, 172/200, 172/767, 172/682, 172/142, 172/727, 172/393 [51] Int. Cl E0lh 5/00 [58] Field of Search 172/612, 744, 200, 748, 767, 172/778, 779, 197, 199, 142, 188, 195, 382,

I [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,114,442 10/1914 Brodie 37/48 1,161,275 11/1915 Wood 37/41 945,787 1/1910 Krajcck 37/41 3,666,020 5/1972 Hess 37/41 235,431 12/1880 Harter 172/197 X 791,726 6/1905 Schutte 404/118 X 2,402,314 6/1946 Crane 172/26.5 X

-197,867 12/1877 Krick .Q l72/l95 2,101,567 12/1937 Winsor 172/393 2,786,283 3/1957 Bradley 37/50 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 110,020 3/1940 Australia 172/705 678,804 4/1930 France 679,693 4/1930 France 172/652 Primary Examiner-R0bert E. Pulfrey Assistant ExaminerEugene H. Eickholt Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert J. Schiller; Nicholas A. Pandiscio [5 7] ABSTRACT This Trail .Groomer is designed to adapt itself to the trail condition, and automatically reduces the load on Y the towing vehicle whenever the groomer meets high resistance such as iced snow cover or very heavy snow fall. The unloading of the groomer is accomplished by tilting the main beam upwards to lift a fixed blade, and pulling a lifting wedge which responds to excessive draw-bar pull under a movable blade to reduce some of the load of snow.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PORTABLE TRAIL GROOMING DEVICE This invention relates to an easily portable trail grooming device particularly designed for individual use, and for use with over-the-snow vehicles of low and medium horse power.

There are many situations where a pleasant .ski slope can be made, or the bumps in a snow vehicle trail can be cut down if the groomer were small enough to be pulled by a low-powered vehicle. One can operate it easily, for it adjusts itself to snow conditions without the operator running back constantlyto dump overaccumulations of .snow, or raise the height of the groomer blades. I

In my application, Ser. No. 269,077, filed simultaneously with this application, I disclosed a trail groomer characterized by a plurality of semi-circular grooming blades which successfully grooms the snow on trails usually opened for commercial purposes. The entire contents of the said application is incorporated herein by reference.

' Since the purpose of the present invention is to produce a groomer which is light, portable, and capable of being carried to the ski slope or vehicle trail in the trunk of an automobile, the present groomer is designed to be easily disassembled and packed in the trunk space. More trips over the easily groomed area may be required to produce a satisfactory trail than does the groomer disclosed in the said companion application, but nevertheless, this small groomer will produce a trail which is comfortable and well cleared of moguls even when it is towed by a low-powered overthe-snow vehicle.

The device includes a centrally located beam, which conveniently may be galvanized pipe approximately 12 feet long, jointed so that it can be disassembled and transported in parts. A fixed shear for cutting down moguls is fastened to the forward section of the-beam, and carries'a downwardly projecting blade, while a curved blade which cuts, grooms, and also levels the snow, is fastened to oppositely directed struts extending outwardly and rearwardly from the fixed mogul shear.

. The accompanying figures show the device:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the groomer,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the groomer with the blade in the position for maximum cut. The dotted lines on FIG. 2 show the position of the groomer blade and the mogul shear, when the blade has been lifted to its highand 14, are rigidly fastenedto the rigid shear, 15, the

purpose of which is to cut down moguls. Shear, I5, is formed from a piece of angle iron with one. arm, 16, bolted to beam, I I, and the other, 17, projecting downwardly to make a cutting blade.

Struts, l3 and 14, are wide and are twistedslightly so i as to run against the snow with a slight angle of attack. The ends of struts, l3 and 14, are bent downwards at right angles to-their plane in order to provide an attachment portion, 18, to which the tracking links, 19 and 21, are pivoted. i

Side rails, 22 and 23, are pivoted adjacent the end of the tracking links at 24-24. An arcuate groomer and shearing blade, 25, is pivoted on the side rails, 22 and 23, at the pivots, 26-26. Solid blades can be used, but to reduce the weight of the groomer, blade, 25, can be formed of relatively thin-gaged hardened steel, reinforced however by an arcuate stiffening bar, 27, fastened to the thin blade in any appropriate manner as, e.g., spot welding.

The rear of the device is occupied by a lifting ski, 28, which has a ski-like shape flaring outward toward its rear end. A wedge or fin, 29, placed along the axis of ski, 28, rises steeply from the ski portion.

A draw-bar unit, 31, is mounted on the forward end of beam, 11, and is adapted to slide along the beam when pull is exerted through the chain bridle, 32, and the actual draw bar, 33. The lower portion of drawbar unit, 31, is equipped with a rigid cam, 34, which can depress the-lifting shoe, 35, as the draw-bar assembly is pulled forward. Lift shoe, 35, is fastened to the beam, 11, by pivot pin, 36, which passes through two cars, 37--37, formed on the shoe.

The upper rear portion of draw-bar unit 31, carries a pull link, 38,- to which it is fastened by pivot pin, 39. The rear end of pull link, 38, is pivoted on lever, 41, which in turn is pivoted on beam, 11, at 42.

A strong return spring, 43, stretched between the rear end of beam, 11, and lift ski, 28, normally pulls the lift ski into its maximum retracted position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. When, however, resistance to the forward motion of the groomer causes the return spring, 43, to stretch, wedge, 29, slides under blade, 25, and raises it as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. At the same time,.the draw-bar unit, 3], is pulled toward the forward end of beam, 11, causing cam, 34, to depress the lift show, shoe, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. The action of the lifting shoe, 35, lifts beam, 11, upward and reduces the depth to which the blade, 17, of

' the mogul shear is pushed into the snow. Since shear,

25, is also raised, the amount of snow which is cut and moved is automatically adjusted to the draw-bar effort of the towing'vehicle.

This operation of lifting both the grooming blade and the mogul shear depends upon the adjustment of the tension exerted by return spring, 43. Proper tension is determined not only by the draw-bar pull of the towing vehicle, but by the snow conditions of the day. Setting the spring properly is accomplished by turning the threaded'hand wheel, 44, which withdraws the eye bolt, 45, holding spring, 43.

In towing this device along a trail, one side is often higher than the other, and this is almost always the case when the trail rounds curves. Tracking links, 19 and 21, by hinging up and down, allow either end of the curved shear to ride in a plane above or below that occupied by the beam, 1]. It is possible for this device which weighs but 87 lbs. to groom acceptably a wide 42-inch trail with a comparatively low-powered over-thesnow vehicle. The fact that it is self-adjusting to the load means that the operator does not have to stop the machine,jump off and adjust the shears to meet the snow conditions. He can continue on his machine and do an acceptable job. It entirely overcomes the chance of digging holes in the trail when the groomer is stuck and the treads of the towing vehicle continue to turn and dig..

which resist upset, and when they are bent with an upward cant will not dive under an icy crust, but rather V ride up over it. In giving stability to the device, particularly in crusted snow, a wide flat strut is a great improvement. In the present example, the struts are 3 Va inches wide.

I claim: 1. A trailgroomer comprising a. a beam extending along theaxis of the groomer, b. a downwardly directed mogul shear rigidly fastened to said beam, c. side rails positioned respectively remote from and on opposite sides of said beam, d. oppositely and rearwardly directed struts extending from the said mogul shear to the said side rails, e. a semi-circular shear fastened at each end to the respective side rails, f. a slider adapted to move toward the forward end of said beam, g. a draw bar. attached to the slider, h. a wedge slidable on said beam and positioned adjacent its rear end, i. a return spring normally urging the wedge into its fully retracted position, and j. linkage means connecting the slider and the said wedge adapted to pull the wedge forward on the beam when the resistance to the forward motion of the groomer exceeds the retractive force of said return spring and thereby raise the said semi-circular shear to relieve a portion of its load of snow.

2. A trail groomer as claimedin claim 1 wherein the forward end of said beam bears a downwardly directed hinged shoe and wherein the said slider carries a downwardly directed'cam cooperating to depress the shoe whenever the slider is pulled towards the front end of said beam. i I

3. A grooming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said rigidly fastened struts terminate in a vertically positioned portion, tracking links pivoted on the said vertical end portion of the struts, and a curved grooming blade and shear pivoted adjacent each end on the said tracking links to permit either end of the said shear to assume a position above or below the plane of said beam.

4. A trail grooming device as claimed in claim 3 having side rails pivotally attached to the said tracking links and to the said curved shear to prevent the sid drifting of the device.

Claims (4)

1. A trail groomer comprising a. a beam extending along the axis of the groomer, b. a downwardly directed mogul shear rigidly fastened to said beam, c. side rails positioned respectively remote from and on opposite sides of said beam, d. oppositely and rearwardly directed struts extending from the said mogul shear to the said side rails, e. a semi-circular shear fastened at each end to the respective side rails, f. a slider adapted to move toward the forward end of said beam, g. a draw bar attached to the slider, h. a wedge slidable on said beam and positioned adjacent its rear end, i. a return spring normally urging the wedge into its fully retracted position, and j. linkage means connecting the slider and the said wedge adapted to pull the wedge forward on the beam when the resistance to the forward motion of the groomer exceeds the retractive force of said return spring and thereby raise the said semi-circular shear to relieve a portion of its load of snow.

2. A trail groomer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the forward end of said beam bears a downwardly directed hinged shoe and wherein the said slider carries a downwardly directed cam cooperating to depress the shoe whenever the slider is pulled towards the front end of said beam.

3. A grooming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said rigidly fastened struts terminate in a vertically positioned portion, tracking links pivoted on the said vertical end portion of the struts, and a curved grooming blade and shear pivoted adjacent each end on the said tracking links to permit either end of the said shear to assume a position above or below the plane of said beam.

4. A trail grooming device as claimed in claim 3 having side rails pivotally attached to the said tracking links and to the said curved shear to prevent the side drifting of the device.

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